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Alternative medication warnings
In general, be VERY skeptical of claims that herbal or alternative therapies can replace insulin treatment in cats or dogs. Please note that many of the charlatans and scammers discussed in this article had ads appearing on this wiki. See the phrases they use to try to hook you at Ad scams and Ad scams 2. In dogs Diabetic dogs, in particular, tend to be Type-1 diabetics and must have insulin: *Alternative Treatment 1 *Alternative Treatment 2 *Alternative Treatment 3 *Alternative Treatment 4 *Alternative Treatment 5 *Alternative Treatment 6 *Alternative Treatment 7 *Alternative Treatment 8 *Alternative Treatment 9 *Alternative Treatment 10 These links will take you to the pages where the "Treatment" is discussed. Think about it Hucksters and charlatans like these have told their lies and made their claims long before modern treatment for pet diabetes. They did so to the human sufferers of diabetes, Type-1 and Type-2; those who believed them were fortunate if they escaped with at least part of their health intact--some were not so lucky. The smoke and mirrors are still going on for persons with diabetes. These are large and active Google newsgroups for persons with diabetes: *Google Groups Misc. Health:Diabetes *Google Groups Alt. Support:Diabetes Take a few minutes to read the threads and see for yourself how many scams are posted there. And be sure to read the many, many responses of the various members to these posters--that this is not true, these are scams, and the poster should get lost. Lurk for a while if you doubt it. Then post and ask long-time newsgroup members how many scams they've seen on the newsgroup. I guarantee you will have '''plenty of responses. The scam and sham artists don't care one bit about you, about your pet, or about anyone who has diabetes--they only care about your money and how they can relieve you of it. They are in the "pet diabetes business" only because it appears profitable, just as they were and continue to be in the "human diabetes business". Your intelligence should tell you there's a reason why what they're selling isn't approved by any legitimate medical regulation agency in this world--because it doesn't work and may also harm you or your pet. And because this is true--if the substance truly and safely met all claims, why is it being sold on hole-in-the-wall websites? Why not on websites like these examples: *Levemir-US *Apidra-US *Vetsulin If what the scamsters are pitching worked, they'd have enough money to have websites like Levemir, Apidra and Vetsulin. The chiropractor was and may still possibly be the CEO of Techmedica . The person who owns Techmedica pleaded guilty on July 2, 2009, to his role in the conspiracy to violate the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act and to one count of wire fraud. From the Justice Department link: "Techmedica fabricated fraudulent customer identities using photographs purchased from Istockphoto.com. Testimonials attributed to these fraudulent identities touted the effectiveness of the unapproved new drugs and misbranded drugs. Techmedica also posted one of the Istockphoto.com photographs on their Web sites to fabricate a non-existent physician, Dr. Judy Hamilton, for the purpose of lending authenticity to and endorsing product claims about Diabeticine for customers with Type I and Type II diabetes. The person identified as Dr. Hamilton was in fact a model from California. This same model's photograph was also used by Pham on another Web site to fabricate a non-existent nurse, Bethany Hunt, RN, to tout the effectiveness of the unapproved new drugs and misbranded drugs. "Techmedica, through Pham, operated several Web sites using mirror image technology. When each of these Web sites was accessed from an FDA network computer, they displayed a “sanitized” version of the Web site containing medical claims that attempted to comply with the federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. However, when each of these Web sites was accessed from a computer whose IP address could not be traced to the FDA, they displayed claims that the dietary supplements could cure, mitigate, treat, and prevent diseases, so that these supplements were sold as unapproved new drugs and misbranded drugs." Seeing the extent of the deceit this company was willing to perpetrate--going far enough to provide one website for the FDA and another for everyone else--should be ample proof these products don't work and they are being sold with only one thing in mind-the scamming company's profits. What you can do to help These are all "double pronged" scams where the pitches are made for both people and pets with diabetes. You can help to stop things like this for only a few moments of your time: *US-FDA Reporting Unlawful Sales of Medical Products on the Internet As you see, there's an online form and you do NOT need to provide your name or contact information unless you want a reply. Reports can also be made via plain e-mail, using webcomplaints@ora.fda.gov. Report anything like this you see, and keep reporting it until something is done about the website; the more reports received on a particular website, the faster something will be done about it. Thomas Tusser once said that a fool and his money are soon parted; it's bad enough when this happens to someone, but absolutely without conscience when they also lose health or life itself--theirs or that of a loved one. If you are reading this, you are smarter than the con artists! Update List of Firms Receiving Warning Letters for Marketing Unproven Dietary Supplements for Diabetes with Illegal Drug Claims-US-FDA At least 3 of the companies mentioned here with one or more "Alternative Treatment(s)" are at the FDA link. Springfield Business Owner Pleads Guilty-Sold Dietary Supplements Over the Internet With False Claims to Prevent, Cure Diseases-US Attorney's Office-Western District of Missouri, March 18, 2010 A co-defendant is the owner of Techmedica of Grand Rapid, MI, who was cited as far back as 1995 for these practices . From the Justice Department link above: "Pham pleaded guilty on July 2, 2009, to his role in the conspiracy to violate the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act and to one count of wire fraud. Pham owned and operated Techmedica Health, Inc., located in Grand Rapids. Pham admitted that he used Techmedica to repackage, sell, market, and distribute unapproved new drugs and misbranded drugs over the Internet. Web sites used by Techmedica contained materially false testimonials, product information, and identification of medical professionals. "Techmedica fabricated fraudulent customer identities using photographs purchased from Istockphoto.com. Testimonials attributed to these fraudulent identities touted the effectiveness of the unapproved new drugs and misbranded drugs. Techmedica also posted one of the Istockphoto.com photographs on their Web sites to fabricate a non-existent physician, Dr. Judy Hamilton, for the purpose of lending authenticity to and endorsing product claims about Diabeticine for customers with Type I and Type II diabetes. The person identified as Dr. Hamilton was in fact a model from California. This same model's photograph was also used by Pham on another Web site to fabricate a non-existent nurse, Bethany Hunt, RN, to tout the effectiveness of the unapproved new drugs and misbranded drugs. "Techmedica, through Pham, operated several Web sites using mirror image technology. When each of these Web sites was accessed from an FDA network computer, they displayed a “sanitized” version of the Web site containing medical claims that attempted to comply with the federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. However, when each of these Web sites was accessed from a computer whose IP address could not be traced to the FDA, they displayed claims that the dietary supplements could cure, mitigate, treat, and prevent diseases, so that these supplements were sold as unapproved new drugs and misbranded drugs." The chiropractor, who at one time pretended to be a veterinarian, mentioned in connection with Alternative Treatments 1,2, 6 and 7, was and may still possibly be the CEO of Techmedica. References More Information * US-FDA-Regulations on Statements Made for Dietary Supplements Concerning the Effect of the Product on the Structure or Function of the Body *FDA's Cyber Letters Landing Page-for online sales of questionable items *FDA Warning Letters Landing Page * Alternatives warning for dogs Category:Scams Category:Treatments Category:Tips Category:Introduction Category:Content